When Narendra Modi was performing 'Ganga Aarti' post his victory from Varanasi, all TVs were telecasting the event lively. Sagarika Ghosh of CNN-IBN tweeted that Modi should have visited the nearby Mosque also. The intention of Sagarika was that Modi should show his secular (?) credentials too! Modi did nothing like that.

Then continuously he was addressing rallies,
including his speech in central hall of Parliament, where he refered
125 crore Indians and 'Sab ka Saath and Sab ka Vikash'! His opponents
like Shahid Siddique, Kamal Farooqui and even Shashi Tharoor
appreciated his speeches and hoped that he would do better for the
country.

In
Focus

At the same time many TV channels (CNN-IBN, Times
Now, Headlines Today and others) were repeatedly debating whether
Narendra Modi can really remain secular and would not buckle under
pressure from communal allies and party insiders! What would be the
state of Ram Mandir, article 370 and uniform civil code?

Any sane Indian having some knowledge of
Constitution cannot deny that, neither article 370 nor uniform civil
code is communal or anti-secular. These are actually constitutional
subjects! Article 370 is a temporary provision needed to be scrapped
in future. Similarly the constitutional mandate is to ensure a common
civil code to prevail in the country through negotiations with
different communities.

Now as far as the self claimed secular brigade of
this country is concerned they always misuse the term 'secular'
erroneously and misinterpret it too! One of my earlier articles
'Secularism is a bogey in Indian politics and a tool to fool the
public' has clearly explained the exact meaning of terms 'secular',
'communal' and how both the terms are not antonym to each other.

Also it was explained how political people fool the
public using this bogey. However, with Narendra Modi at the helm of
affairs and his strong faith in his religious values will keep the
'Indian Secular Industry' in spreading confusions among communities.
Thus I think again to put some points in front of readers to revisit
this secular bogey and some extra points too!

As we know that secular means no concern with
religion, in Indian context this western term becomes irrelevant as
there is no chance of any church, temple or religious body has any
power to intervene in government as per Indian Constitution. Secular
term in fact coined to prevent Church’s interference in the
governance in western countries.

But in Indian context, as everything of our life
including the governance starts at every step involving some
religious events such as taking oath in the name of Bhagwadgita
/Koran/ Bible or even seeking blessing from God (of any faith with
some ritual), we can still define secularism in Indian context. The
western meaning of 'no concern to religion' can be revised as 'no
concern/favour to any special religion!' That means all religions in
addition to all communities (based on caste, creed etc) should be
treated at par and no discrimination should be done to any
religion/community at all.

The true Hinduism which is a culture in fact
believes in cohabitating different cultures/religion peacefully
greeting to each other. As a Hindu, I must be proud of my religion,
culture and faiths and I have all the rights and freedom to observe
my traditions and rituals. At the same time if I should also respect
the rights of my fellow country man of different religion, and then I
am definitely a secular!

I observe Dussera as an astute Hindu where as I
greet a Muslim friend on their Eid! Similarly, a Muslim observes
his Roza as an astute Muslim, yet greets his Hindu friends on the eve
of Holi and Diwali! This is the way of life in our culture and true
secularism in Indian context.

Now let's see the twist in the term! The most hyped
scene was when Modi denied wearing the skull cap. What's the message?
Does wearing a skull cap by Hindu makes him Secular? If yes, then is
a Muslim needs to shave his beards and wear a 'Teeka' on his forehead
to proof himself a secular! Isn't it ridiculous! Has Imam Bukhari
ever attended any Hindu celebration including Holi! If not how can he
be secular as per the meaning of political dictionary!

The Congress leader Mani Shankar Ayer had once said
that he had thrown his sacred thread (Brahmin's thread) and ate beef,
hence he is a proven Secular. Going by his logic, should a Muslim
leave all his religious attire and eat pork to prove his secular
credentials? Or it's the Hindus only who have to always prove their
secular credentials even through tokenism!

Thus friends, as long as you follow your religious
traditions and observe your rituals proudly and astutely, you can't
be a communal unless and until you haven't disrespected people of
other religion and communities. Thus Imam Bukhari or all such
religious leaders including of other minority groups and even Hindus
can't be communal unless and until they discriminate, disrespect and
obstruct people, rituals and traditions outside of their faith! This
is true secularism. A Shankaracharya is equally secular along with an
Imam, Pope, Sikh Guru. Only when a religious person or leader spits
venom against other faiths, he becomes communal, like Togadias,
Owasis etc.

Thus Narendra Modi has got every right to do Ganga
Aarti or follow all religious Hindu rituals. He need-not to wear a
skull cap or offer Chaddar to Dargahs. He should in fact distance
from such tokenism. He would remain true secular till he speaks 'My
125 crore Indians' and aim at 'Sab ka Saath and Sabka Vikash'! Those
who still press for tokenism and even try to criticize in such
stance; I would call them as anti-secular!

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